


chaos energy

by vinndetta



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Chaos Energy (Sonic the Hedgehog), Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Other: See Story Notes, POV Knuckles the Echidna, Post-Canon Fix-It, Post-Sonic Forces
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29551725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vinndetta/pseuds/vinndetta
Summary: "Listen, what happened up there, that's between me and Eggman. I'm fine, bud. Trust me?"And honestly?Knuckles has never been good at trusting people.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	chaos energy

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [i’m not looking back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767343) by [dame_de_la_chance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dame_de_la_chance/pseuds/dame_de_la_chance). 



> inspired by dame_de_la_chance's brilliant fic. (do let me know if this is unwanted, i can take down the inspiration if wanted, i just got really excited!)
> 
> a post sonic forces fix-it fic which explains more about classic sonic's muteness, sonic's inability to age, and why he seemed relatively unharmed despite his apparent torture. includes many references to sonic game continuity, and considers mainstream games canon, and possibly others as well.
> 
> (at least that's what i have planned. who knows where this is going.)
> 
> as for characters, who knows who'll pop up. certainly not me. but expect to see quite a few familiar faces as well as a few mentions here and there of others.
> 
> other than that, well. hope you enjoyed!

Knuckles shakes his head. The scene laid out before him consists of Sonic frantically gesturing wildly as he says things he doesn't really care to listen to, Amy Rose showing off her spunky attitude, and Tails trying to appease both of them while unsurprisingly failing. In the midst of the restaurant's busiest hours, the table of four isn't so out of place, really, but Knuckles isn't one for social meetings. Or restaurants. Or anything like that. He's only now beginning to warm up to being actual friends with these people.

"C'mon, Ames, at least we got to it at some point, yeah?" Sonic tries to play it off, as he normally does with that cocky attitude that he's seen since the day he met the blue hedgehog back on Angel Island all those years ago.

Amy rolls her eyes, leaning on her signature hammer as she shakes her head in disbelief. "I can't believe this. Absolute fools." She throws a side-glimpse at Knuckles as a last thought. "No offense, not you," she adds.

" _Absolutely_ me, and none taken," Knuckles says, amused as Sonic turns around to give him a dumbfounded look.

"You agree to yourself being a fool?"

Knuckles grumbles.

Sonic throws him an easy grin.

"When you're tricked by an evil scientist once, it's easy to say it's a fluke, but twice?" Knuckles thinks back on what happened that day with Chaos and the Egg Carrier, and everything that led up to it and everything that came after it. "... Yeah," he concludes, leaving his thoughts hanging.

Tails snorts, taking a bite of the sandwich in front of him.

Amy looks back at Knuckles. "Hey, Eggman gets the best of all of us sometimes." She thinks about it for a moment. "... More than some of the time, but that's beside the point," she rambles. "In the end, we win and he loses and the world is safe and that's what matters in the end."

"Yep, that we're all friends and we saved the day. How many times is it now?" Sonic looks to the side, thinking to himself out loud. "Three... five... six? At least seven times, we've saved the world. Doesn't include the times we've thwarted plans before they even begin, so really, we're full-fledged heroes-- Sonic Heroes!"

"Why is it named after you anyway?" Knuckles grumbles again. "Not to undermine your contribution but it undermines _ours_."

Sonic shrugs. "I'm the leader in the eyes of the press. Wasn't my idea. Never was my idea to be famous either but here we are, anyway."

"Mingling with high society? Casually having lunch with the president?"

"Something like that," Sonic waves it off. "Frankly, it's more fun to have lunch with you guys rather than have some political conversation with him. Not that I think it's -- or he's -- boring, but we're just kids at the end of the day."

"You're not a kid. You're a teenager."

Tails lets out a small sigh.

"... Okay, some of us are kids, but our point still stands!"

Tails scoots closer to Knuckles as Amy and Sonic continue their dynamic conversation. Knuckles glances down at the kid. He's always been with Sonic, and he's grown up quite a bit too. He can be a little shy, but he can step up to the plate when he needs to. Really, he feels a slight kinship with that, but he'd never tell the two-tailed fox that.

"So, anyway, that aside..." Sonic lets out his signature grin. "Time for introductions?"

"You're a couple years late, but you've got the spirit."

Sonic glares at Knuckles. "What is it, _roast_ Sonic day?"

Knuckles just shrugs but he knows that the smile is pulling on his lips anyway.

"Well," Amy sighs. "I can't blame Sonic. Or any of us, really. We were so caught up in saving the world so many times. Plus, it's not like I even really knew you even when we fought alongside each other for the first time."

"And I'm not sociable like you or Sonic, either."

"So, let's start over." Amy sits up straight, clearing her throat. "Hi, I'm Amy Rose, what's your name?"

"Knuckles the Echidna. Glad to finally be acquainted officially."

Sonic rolls his eyes. "You're never letting this go, are you?"

"Echidna..." Amy hums. "I remember Tikal and everything that happened with Chaos, but I don't think I really know much about echidnas."

"We..." Knuckles blinks for a moment. "... Well, I believe I'm the last of my tribe. What happened with Tikal could possibly have led to the end of our tribe. I'm not entirely clear on it, but it's been heavily implied. So I've been the one who has to safeguard the Master Emerald. I have never met another one of my kind."

Amy frowns. "... That's so sad."

Knuckles shrugs. "Hard to miss what was never there. You still have to move on. I can't change the past. Sure, my life is much different from many others, but at the end of the day, I wouldn't really change it."

"Even meeting me?" Sonic butts in, still chewing his chili dog.

"Sonic, manners," Amy hisses.

Knuckles snorts. "Yes, even meeting you. All of you, even."

Amy gives him a small smile. Tails gives him a wide grin, his tails moving slightly in happiness. And Sonic?

He just has this smug look on his face that Knuckles chooses to ignore entirely.

"So, what about you?"

Amy looks up, shocked. "Hm?"

"Your name's just Amy Rose?"

"Uh..." Amy looks around, confused by the question. "Yes? I used to go by Rosy the Rascal back when I met Sonic, but those days are over. I'm just Amy Rose now. Full stop."

"Well, you don't have to have your species at the end of your name," Tails pipes up, evidently smart enough to know where Knuckles' train of thought was heading. "Like my name's not actually Tails."

"It's... not?"

"Well--" Tails frowns. "It's more of a nickname that's turned into my name, I guess. My legal name is Miles Prower. But I don't like it. So I just go by Tails now. It's the name Sonic gave me when I told him I didn't like Miles way back when we first met."

"That's right!" Sonic gives him a thumbs-up.

Knuckles nods in understanding.

"Forgive me if this is rude, but... what are you then, Amy?"

The table pauses.

"Excuse me?" Amy asks, a bewildered expression on her face. Sonic and Tails are wearing similar expressions, but Tails' expression is more filled with interest while Sonic's is completely floored.

Knuckles flushes in embarrassment. "I didn't mean to be rude; I just wanted to ask."

Sonic deadpans. "She's a hedgehog, duh. We're _both_ hedgehogs."

Knuckles blinks.

"C'mon, isn't it obvious? I mean, I guess you've only met me and Shadow, but really? You're a knucklehead."

"Hey!" Knuckles raises a fist in objection.

"Sonic, don't be like that, just a silly mistake," Amy giggles. "No offense taken, Knuckles. Yes, I'm a hedgehog. I guess I do look kind of different from Sonic, but I can think of a few reasons for that."

"Really, Ames?"

"Yes, of course!" Amy counts on her fingers. "One, we're both different genders. Not that that really says much, but that could be a little bit of a difference considering my quills are less defined than yours and gender presentation, la la la. Two, Knuckles has only really met the three of us, so I wouldn't be surprised if he couldn't immediately recognize me as a hedgehog, considering he's been living on a floating isolated island before he met us. Three, if that's so, his first exposure to a hedgehog was you, Sonic, and you're not really your typical-looking hedgehog."

Sonic does a double-take. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"You're cobalt blue, Sonic," Tails points out. "It's a strange color."

"Amy's pink."

Tails fumbles slightly. "Yes, well... I've seen a few pink hedgehogs before."

Sonic looks at him.

"... But _never_ a blue hedgehog."

-

Knuckles' role in Sonic's adventures has always been akin to isolation, not minding the world around him. He's always been doing his own thing, separate from Sonic, not counting the time he spent an entire adventure with Sonic and Tails. Even then, he was the muscle, the guy to beat up robots as they race the clock to beat Eggman again.

But aside from the adventures and missions and everything that he's done since he met the blue blur...

Well, Knuckles likes to think he spent so much time alone, thinking, that he has a great grasp on thinking for himself, building up that mental fortitude to understand most things, as long as they don't include social cues.

And Sonic?

Well, Knuckles is starting to get the idea that not all is what it seems.

-

Honestly, Knuckles had brushed off that conversation at the moment, choosing not to think about it that often.

It's been years since the conversation. Years in which Sonic went on space adventures, went on adventures through multiple _dimensions_ , and beat the closest odds to save the world from foes both new and old. Years in which Knuckles has had the chance to grow close to Amy, Tails, Sonic, and even newer faces that they've gotten to know over the years.

Years in which a buried memory finally comes to the surface after so long.

-

"Nice to see my little buddy again, even if it's always under high stakes," Sonic grins. "One of these days, maybe I'll convince Tails to open up a portal to get us just some time to hang out, or have a race, or see if he's learned the homing attack yet."

"Again," Tails lets out a sigh. "Opening up an _interdimensional_ portal just so you could see other Sonic again...? You know that's risky, right?"

"Risky is my middle name!"

"I thought it was Adventure."

"Wait, I thought it was The."

Sonic grumbles.

"How old is he anyway?" Knuckles inquires.

Sonic pauses for a moment, then shrugs. "I don't know. Frankly, I have no idea if that even is younger me, considering I don't remember having a time travel adventure as a kid, let alone two."

"Me neither, now that I think about it... could be an alternate universe you and me?" Tails frowns. "We don't know much about time travel, but it could be possible that the Time Eater created multiple branching universes from the moment that it first ripped through time, so it's younger you but from a newly created alternate universe."

Sonic nods slowly. "... That's a bit of a big concept to comprehend, but I guess that makes sense."

Knuckles snorts.

-

He pulls Sonic aside later.

"Hey, Knuckles, what's up?" Sonic stares at him expectantly, almost bored _(but he always is, if he's not running off to another adventure)_ , but mostly intrigued, maybe even a bit worried. 

"Sonic, what happened with Eggman?"

Sonic freezes.

"What do you mean?"

Knuckles frowns. "When we heard news of you actually being alive, we were told that you were -- you were being _tortured_."

"Tortured?"

"Don't blame the messenger. It's a trusted source, so I've come to two conclusions: either you aren't making a big deal out of it, or the information was jumbled along the way."

Sonic lets out a laugh, brushing it off. "C'mon, Knux, look at me, I'm fine."

Knuckles looks at him.

Sonic lets out a sigh. "Listen, what happened up there, that's between me and Eggman. I'm fine, bud. Trust me?"

And honestly?

Knuckles has never been good at trusting people.

"Sure," he lies. "Just know that it's alright. That..." He searches for the right words. "You have a lot of people that are there for you."

Sonic gives him a sideways glance, then eases into his classic, signature grin. "Alright, Knux."

-

"Well, well, well, what a surprise to see you here."

Knuckles rolls his eyes. "Cut the crap, Eggman."

Eggman relaxes, unstraightening his back as he gives Knuckles a neutrally-disappointed look. "Knuckles, what do you want? Here to rub in the salt? Listen, I won't be able to come up with a plan that quickly. I'm a super-genius, but all my Plan-Bs were foiled as well."

Knuckles is about to interject about how they can't all _possibly_ be called _Plan-B_ before he shakes his head.

"What did you do to Sonic?"

Eggman stills.

"I know what I heard. I know that it was reported that you were doing something to him, but I'm here to find the truth. That's it."

Eggman gives him a wry look. "That's it?"

Knuckles starts to pull up his fists but the scientist just shakes his head, backing off to solidify his status as a non-threat.

"Listen, Knuckles," he says slowly. "You know that damned hedgehog has always been an interesting specimen."

"Specimen?" Knuckles echoes in confusion.

Eggman's face goes dark. "Instead of asking what _I_ did to Sonic..."

Knuckles' eyes widen slightly in confusion.

"... Maybe you should be asking what _he_ did instead."

-

Eggman kicks him out of his base after that.

And honestly, as the Badnik army simply crowds around him to force him to make an escape, he just goes along with it.

-

Really, that should be the end of it.

Sonic's nonanswer, Eggman's cryptic answer that implies more... neither of them want to share what occurred upon the Death Egg during all those months Sonic was presumed dead.

And really, he should be minding his own business. Whatever it is, Eggman is obviously still processing it, Sonic is going to move on (as he always does), and Knuckles can either choose to pick up the pieces or leave it be.

...

But, well, Knuckles can't deny he's interested.

-

"Well, well, well. Hey there, big boy, long time no see," Rouge chortles slightly, shooting Knuckles a sly grin. She flies down from the pile of boxes, hovering in front of Knuckles.

He knew that as a former government spy, she'd be assigned to rebuilding society after their last clash with Eggman. As more and more time passes with each of his visits to the outside world beyond Angel Island, he can see the world turning more and more into the world before Eggman's takeover.

And Rouge?

Well, no doubt she's willingly helping with the process, hoping to catch any glimpse of jewels she can nab along the way 

Knuckles ignores this. "Rouge, you got a little bit of time?"

"For you? Always."

Knuckles pointedly looks away. "It's regarding the war."

Rouge raises a brow, then lands on her feet. "Isn't the Resistance disbanded?"

"Well," Knuckles begins. "Yes, but it's still going, just under a different name and under the leadership of one Amy Rose. But it's not Resistance-related, not really."

Rouge goes quiet for a second, and both of them look at each other. Rouge's face looks contemplative as if she's weighing her options as to how to continue in the conversation.

"I suppose I can do what I can," she says vaguely. "What's the issue?"

Knuckles takes in a small breath. No time like the present.

"What happened during Sonic's imprisonment?"

Rouge blinks.

"Just answer the question."

The bat just rolls her eyes, turning her attention to something else in the distance. "I went into the base, got information, got back. What else is there to say?"

"Rouge."

She lets out an insufferable sigh. "I know you're trying to get information out of me, but remaining silent and thinking that'll get you anywhere isn't going to help, knucklehead."

"I hate you," Knuckles grumbles.

"You don't," Rouge presses further. "Otherwise, you'd have left by now."

A small stretch of silence passes by as the two of them share a few glances. Rouge has always been the kind of person to dodge around the bush, but she does the right thing. Most of the time, at least.

Knuckles lets out a small breath. "Sonic seems alright. You said he was tortured. Sonic dodged the question, and so did Eggman."

"You talked to Eggman?"

Knuckles rolls his eyes. "He was scrambling around for who-knows-what in one of his abandoned bases in Holoska."

"Holoska?" Rouge curses under her breath, picking up her communicator. "He's probably long gone, but GUN probably wants to drop by and see if there's anything left."

"He still has some Badniks, but honestly, that probably wasn't news to anyone really."

"Still," Rouge lets out a small laugh at that, putting down her communicator. "You really should have said something. You know GUN wants to take him into custody, not to mention other national figures who want him to answer for international war crimes."

Knuckles shrugs. "Honestly, it didn't really cross my mind."

"Well," Rouge says, shooting Knuckles a small grin. "While I doubt the man has any sort of way to launch an attack again, it is technically my job to make sure he's taken into custody. But honestly, I don't particularly care myself, though I'd like to prevent a future Eggman take-over. It really gets in the way of me getting gems and jewels and all sorts of treasure."

Knuckles lets out a small laugh. "You almost had me fooled."

"Hm?"

"Almost thought you actually cared about your job even a little bit for a second there."

"I can't believe you said that," Rouge laughs, shoving him slightly. "You're so different from the Knuckles I've originally met."

Knuckles shrugs. "What can I say? It has been years after all, and maybe some of you people rubbed off on me."

"I'll say?" Rouge's face lights up. "I rubbed--"

" _Anyway_ , back to what Eggman said," Knuckles interrupts, trying his best to will away the ensuing blush on his face at what he knows Rouge will imply. "He basically refused to answer my question, which leads me to believe that something more happened at the Death Egg."

Rouge's smile drops.

"Rouge, if you have something to say..."

She shakes her head. "I didn't see anything."

"But..." she continues. "If you really do want to know, then what I want to say, is that I wasn't lying."

"Not lying?"

Rouge brushes him off. "Listen, I should head back to work," says the woman who would never say anything like that under any circumstances. "But, hey, it was nice to see you again, Knuckles. Catch ya later."

And she takes off. Without letting him say anything else.

 _Typical Rouge_ , he thinks, as he sighs.

-

Thing is, Knuckles probably would have left it at that.

Soon after the Resistance turned into a clean-up effort, he lost interest for the most part. Putting the world back together is a lot harder than leading troops into battle; so really, who could blame him for leaving Amy in charge? 

Years have gone by since he met the hedgehog, and she's grown up into her own responsibilities. Amy is more than capable of handling paperwork and leadership, as she proved while working alongside Knuckles in the Resistance efforts. So, he bids her farewell, gives her a fist bump, and lets her know that he'll always be able to lend a hand. Or a fist.

Knuckles returns to Angel Island, after a long time away from the Master Emerald. It's been kept safe for the most part, when he added even more traps and secrets to keep it out of danger, so he undoes it all and places the Master Emerald back on its shrine.

After all that's settled, he doesn't think about Sonic, or Rouge, or Eggman much. Or at least he _tries_ not to. If no one's going to give him an answer, well, normally he'd go looking for it, like another treasure hunt of sorts.

But he's getting older. And after the weary events of the war, well, he just wants some time to relax. So he lays down and does exactly that: let the time pass by him like the wind and find the time to take a breather before the next inevitable threat that Sonic attracts, making him leave his Angel Island again.

At least until a certain someone comes around, a question comes from his mouth unprompted, and...

Well. It's better to witness it in person.

**Author's Note:**

> ty for reading, i'd love feedback of any sort<3


End file.
